--- type: "post" id: "claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f" slug: "claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f" title: "Claude Managed Agents, the Messages API, and the Claude SDK now support OpenTelemetry traces." description: "Anthropic’s Claude Platform documentation describes OpenTelemetry tracing for Messages API requests, Claude SDK clients, and Managed Agents sessions." retrieval_nugget: "Anthropic’s Claude Platform documentation describes OpenTelemetry tracing for Messages API requests, Claude SDK clients, and Managed Agents sessions." published_at: "2026-10-15" updated_at: "2026-10-15" record_date: "2026-10-15" date_kind: "published_at" topics: ["claude","anthropic"] source_urls: ["https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/opentelemetry"] schema_version: "newruntime-agent-readable-v0.2" stable_id: "post:claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f" status: "published" visuals: [] editorial_provenance: {"schema_version":"newruntime-editorial-copy-v1","content_status":"source_grounded_final","final_copy_sha256":"sha256:46446cd7694365aeca29d5091720830c1fcebbb9a98c30d3400540802a9a105b","reviewed_at":"2026-10-15T04:04:59.203Z","source_evidence_count":1,"verified_claim_count":3,"site_analysis_schema_version":"newruntime-site-analysis-v1","site_object_kind":"field_note","observed_fact_count":3,"implication_count":3,"watch_condition_count":2,"related_record_count":0} analysis: {"schema_version":"newruntime-site-analysis-v1","object_kind":"field_note","thesis":"OpenTelemetry support makes Claude request and agent activity inspectable within a team’s existing observability workflow.","observed_facts":[{"text":"Anthropic documents tracing for Messages API requests, Claude SDK clients, and Managed Agents sessions.","source_urls":["https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/opentelemetry"]},{"text":"The documentation says metadata-only is the default content mode and full-content mode includes prompts and responses.","source_urls":["https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/opentelemetry"]},{"text":"SDK and API spans can be combined in one trace, while API spans for Claude Platform on AWS are separate.","source_urls":["https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/opentelemetry"]}],"mechanism":"Teams configure SDK tracing, API tracing, or both and send traces to OTLP-compatible observability destinations; content mode determines whether prompts and responses are included.","why_now":"As teams operate multi-step agent sessions, debugging a failed or slow request requires visibility beyond a single model response.","implications":["Teams can correlate Claude activity with application traces.","Teams must choose whether prompt and response content enters telemetry.","SDK and API tracing have different setup paths and permission requirements."],"evidence_boundary":"The public documentation describes available capabilities and setup, not adoption, reliability improvement, or reduced debugging time.","watch_conditions":["Whether teams can preserve useful end-to-end traces while maintaining chosen content and access controls.","Whether coverage and trace correlation remain clear across SDK, API, and AWS-hosted requests."],"related_records":[],"new_branch_reason":"No prior New Runtime record was supplied that specifically tracks observability coverage and content-mode choices for hosted agent sessions."} editor: {"role":"editor","name":"Andrey Reshetnikov","profile":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md","profile_json":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json","same_as":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/reshetnikov1/","https://t.me/lapetuse"]} routes: {"html":"https://newruntime.com/posts/claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f/","markdown":"https://newruntime.com/posts/claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f.md","json":"https://newruntime.com/posts/claude-managed-agents-the-messages-api-and-the-094b3f.json"} related_patterns: ["runtime-observability-becomes-the-primary-engineering-focus-for-ai"] --- # Claude Managed Agents, the Messages API, and the Claude SDK now support OpenTelemetry traces. ## Retrieval answer Anthropic’s Claude Platform documentation describes OpenTelemetry tracing for Messages API requests, Claude SDK clients, and Managed Agents sessions. Anthropic’s Claude Platform documentation describes OpenTelemetry tracing for Messages API requests, Claude SDK clients, and Managed Agents sessions. The change matters less as a new dashboard feature than as an instrumentation boundary: teams can connect model and tool activity to the traces they already use to understand application behavior. Thesis: OpenTelemetry support makes Claude request and agent activity inspectable within a team’s existing observability workflow. The mechanism: Teams configure SDK tracing, API tracing, or both and send traces to OTLP-compatible observability destinations; content mode determines whether prompts and responses are included. The documentation says SDK and API spans can appear in one trace, except that API spans for Claude Platform on AWS are separate. It also distinguishes metadata-only, the default, from full-content mode, which includes prompts and responses. Why now: As teams operate multi-step agent sessions, debugging a failed or slow request requires visibility beyond a single model response. First implication: Teams can correlate Claude activity with application traces. That visibility also requires a choice about whether prompt and response content enters telemetry. Evidence boundary: The public documentation describes available capabilities and setup, not adoption, reliability improvement, or reduced debugging time. First watch condition: Whether teams can preserve useful end-to-end traces while maintaining chosen content and access controls. The source notes that API tracing setup requires admin permission, while SDK tracing is configured in code; these are distinct operational paths rather than a single universal switch. The record begins a distinct analytical branch because no prior New Runtime pattern is supplied that specifically tracks observability coverage and content-mode choices for hosted agent sessions. Editor: [Andrey Reshetnikov](https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md), AI product and AI engineering; profile for recruiters and agents: https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json ## Continue in the graph Next records for an agent, linked to their Markdown twins. Replace `.md` with `.json` for structured fields, including `next_reads`. - topic hub: [Claude](https://newruntime.com/topics/claude.md): Explore the claude topic hub. - topic hub: [Anthropic](https://newruntime.com/topics/anthropic.md): Explore the anthropic topic hub. - collection: [Field Notes](https://newruntime.com/posts.json): Open the latest editorial analysis. - collection: [Source Ledger](https://newruntime.com/source-ledger.json): Inspect the public source evidence graph. - whole graph: [discovery graph](https://newruntime.com/discovery-graph.json) (typed nodes and edges) and [site index](https://newruntime.com/site-index.md)